Chronicles of a Rah Plot Guides
by Shinwolf
Summary: Plot guides/summaries for the stories of Chronicles of a Rah. At the moment, only the one for The Ghost Rabbit is available.


**_C_hronicles of a _R_ah**

** Plot Summary and Guide**

_Hi, this is Shin speaking. It came to my attention while I was writing the remainder of Autumn's Legacy that the characters and the plot of the Chronicles of a Rah series can be way, WAY too big even for me to remember. I was forced to stop and read little bits and pieces of The Ghost Rabbit in order to get back on what supposedly happened before. I've also realized that some of the readers of Autumn's Legacy are experiencing the same problem. So, to help those readers, and to help absentminded old me, I am going to upload these simple plot guides, hopefully one for every story, so that everything becomes a little simpler for all of us._

_ ***_

** The Ghost Rabbit**

"Tell us a story, Captain Dog's-Tail," the kittens said, clambering all over the grizzled old rabbit with unbridled enthusiasm. "Tell us a story."

"But I have already told you the story of Elahrairah and how he came to meet and charm the _beautiful_..." The old rabbit paused for effect, his whiskers quivering. "_Beautiful_ Nur-rama."

"Ewww!" the kittens cried. "Please, not _that_ again!" Dog's-Tail lifted his brows and took a closer look at them. Then he laughed. He had misjudged their gender. Apparently, he'd thought he was telling the romantic tale of Elahrairah and Nur-rama to young does. All the kittens that sprawled over and near him were young bucks.

He grinned. "Ah, I'm sorry about that, but you see...your parents are over there and they don't seem very happy with what I'm doing right now, telling you stories, I mean..."

"But that's because they would rather crowd us in a burrow and teach us _lessons_," one kitten remarked with a pout. "S'not fair."

"Ah," Dog's-Tail said. The old buck lifted one paw and ran it over the white stripe on his forehead. "Ah," he said again. "Listen, I will tell you another story, the last for the day. It is a story about bravery and adventures, a story about hardships, and maybe, near the end, you will see, this story includes you..."

He began to weave his tale.

"Once, a long long time ago, a group of _hlessi_ arrived and lay claim to a small clearing that stood in the middle of a dark and wooded forest. A big, strong buck they called _Néanthlay_ became their Chief, and when he had his first litter he crushed all but one male in his paws, saying, 'I would not have the pain of rivalry plague my heir. Thus, for every Chieftain in Forest, I say this...you shall kill your first litters, save one buck of your choosing, and you will raise him in a way fit for a _Rah_." So with these words came the fate of the entire Forest tribe."

"Several generations passed, and Forest grew, though not so much. A rabbit called Bearberry became Chief. One day, he mated with his brother's daughter, and in her shame she ran and hid herself, her litter growing big inside. She gave birth, and Bearberry's Captain discovered this. Knowing this to be Bearberry's first litter, he killed all but the largest, strongest buck, and proclaimed him the heir to the warren. Alas, at the same time, Bearberry's own doe gave birth, and Bearberry himself had done the rite. Faced with two heir-sons, he decided to keep them, wanting no more kitten-killing, thinking that this once he could lay aside the one son he thought weaker, and give the title of Chief to the stronger kitten."

"The rabbit chosen was Primrose. Outraged by this decision, Bearberry's other son Cherry left the warren and headed north. He came upon, in a day or two, the neighbouring warren Quieflain, and still in a frenzy, he killed its Chief. Unlike Forest, Quieflain reserved the throne for whoever could defeat the past Chief, and Cherry became thus."

"Primrose's own heir Oak took a doe called Elil-hain from her mate Pinecone in order to be his. Unbeknownst to him, Pinecone was vengeful, and four months after Elil-hain became Oak's, killed Oak and threw him into the stream below Forest. When his body was found, however, everyone suspected it was White Blindness, which had in fact infected Oak before. No one suspected anything. Elil-hain bore her litter of four boys, and Primrose, who was a little kinder than most Chiefs, had his Owsla take away three to leave the one he thought the best."

"Two of the three kittens died. The third, a male stronger than the heir if not for his crippled leg, remained alive. Pinecone, who had been one of the Owsla responsible for taking them away, looked lovingly at his beloved mate's son and decided he could not kill it. He took it away, towards Quieflain, to raise it as his own."

"Primrose raised the kitten he called Nightshade, a grey kitten with--strangely enough--blue eyes."

The kittens gasped. They knew now what the story was about. Dog's-Tail gave them a wry look, daring them to interrupt his story any further, and they settled back once more, enthralled.

"Nightshade was a quiet kitten. When he was still young, Primrose made another young kitten--a buck of hutch rabbit stock, whose ears have been cut for convenience--into his personal guard, a liege buck you could say. Together, the two had quite some adventures, including escaping a fox."

"But the joy was not to last long. One day, Primrose was taken by a hawk. Nightshade escaped with a scarred heart and a scarred eye, but that would not be a good enough blow for him that day. Quieflain had sent an army to take Forest for its own. Elil-hain, and many of the rabbits died. Many."

"But Nightshade escaped, though disheartened. He renamed himself Ghost. He found a warren he stayed in after a while, and later Coltsfoot, the hutch kitten, caught up with him. When the new warren was broken apart to political troubles, they decided to head off as _hlessi_ on their own. When they grew up, they found another warren, who sent with them several does and a buck that wanted to seek a new life. These were Corn, Willow, Fern, and Burnet. Later, they acquired more rabbits along the way."

"They made a warren for their own. Ghost mated with Willow, but she was driven off by Fern's jealousy, and bore her only son far away from the rest. But a rabbit called Bran took care of her...a spotted buck with a crippled hind leg. Ghost found them soon enough, and took his mate and his son back to his warren. Timothy, Ghost's son, grew under his watch."

"Then...a rabbit..." Dog's-Tail smiled. "From Ghost's old warren, Primrose's Captain who escaped, told Ghost of how Quieflain had Forest in captivity, and of the sufferings the rabbits were experiencing. Ghost, with the help of Inléthlay, the warren that Burnet and the does had come from, marched towards the two warrens, hoping to take back Forest into their own keeping. Ghost, in fact, managed to get the help of three dogs, since Quieflain's army was vast, and his was meager and barely even his own."

"They fought. Timothy managed to sneak into the warren to assist the captives, but he was taken in prisoner by Cherry and his Captain, Betony. He brought Timothy outside and made him a hostage...telling Ghost to give up, or else see his son die."

"Ghost was prepared to give his life in exchange for his son, Timothy, but what he didn't know was that his two other kittens...a young buck called Nightshade, and his twin sister, Autumn, had followed the army, and were now watching the scene with Ulézenhyze, an older buck about the same age as Timothy was. Autumn, brave, sweet, dear Autumn, leaped into the path of Cherry's claws, and died instead. This gave Ghost time to turn on Cherry and escape his clutches."

"Cherry ran, and in Ghost's pursuit, he was stopped by the same, crippled rabbit that had taken care of his son, Timothy. Bran, who was Ghost's brother, and an Owsla under Cherry's command. They fought, and Ghost was forced to kill his only brother. Then, he took off after Cherry. Coltsfoot, Ghost's faithful friend and Captain, killed Cherry, and Forest's slavery was over."

"They left. Forest was assigned to Ulézenhyze's father, Onion, though today it's under the rule of a buck called Hazel. Quieflain was given to Clover-rah of Inléthlay--today, it's ruled by Bugle. Ghost went back to his warren and lives...even today."

He stopped and turned to the distance, where Ghost was sitting, half-asleep under the beech-tree. 

The kittens looked at each other, and then asked, "What ever happened to Nightshade? Autumn's brother?"

"He left the warren even before you were born, my dears. With Ulézenhyze."

"Who was the rabbit that escaped from Forest and was Primrose's Captain?"

Dog's-Tail smiled again. "You ask too many questions. Run along and sleep now. Tell your parents you've had your day's lesson with old Dog's-Tail." He winked. "It's the truth."

Yelping and screaming, the kittens ran off.

"It's the truth," Dog's-Tail muttered under his breath. Then he gave a deep sigh, the smile etched tightly against his aged face. "Thank Frith that it will always be."


End file.
